


Living For

by Eloarei



Category: One Piece
Genre: 100 Themes Challenge, Developing Relationship, Gen, M/M, Marines, POV Minor Character, Retelling/expansion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-16
Updated: 2013-03-16
Packaged: 2017-12-05 12:36:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/723383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eloarei/pseuds/Eloarei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Funny how when you look back, life was so much more, and yet so much less than you'd always thought it was. Details that passed you by in a blink, in retrospect meant more than even that big picture you strove for. Those people you never would have imagined were worth a nod, the moments of courage that came without question, the feelings that crept up to fill an aching void; in the end, it was these, not your well-sculpted plans, that made life worth remembering.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Themes 1-9

**Author's Note:**

> A re-telling/expansion of Coby and Helmeppo's story from the very beginning. I was working on this a year or so ago as a 100-Themes challenge, so please excuse the numbers and themes throughout; the themes/chapters get longer after the first few, so they shouldn't be in the way too much. =]

1\. 1. Introduction // Blink  
\---Funny how when you look back, life was so much more, and yet so much less than you'd always thought it was. Details that passed you by in a blink, in retrospect meant more than even that big picture you strove for. Those people you never would have imagined were worth a nod, the moments of courage that came without question, the feelings that crept up to fill an aching void; in the end, it was these, not your well-sculpted plans, that made life worth remembering. 

2\. 2. Love // Youth  
\---He had a perfect childhood. Growing up in a small town, the ocean breeze always on his face and the smiling eyes of loving parents always on his back, he grew like a well-nurtured seedling with an endless possibility of flowers to bloom into. It was all he could have wanted from his first years. 

3\. 4. Dark // Lock-and-key // Change  
\---But childhood ends, sooner for some than for others. "It was a mistake," he cried in the darkness, still so young, innocent, but surrounded by the ageless corruption of a gang of brutes whose only thought in life seemed to be greed and its instant satisfaction. The sea he'd loved so much had become a jail cell, its rocking waves and distant shores the lock and key to his imprisonment. 

4\. 5. Seeking Solace // Rot // Dreams  
\---He sought solace in his dreams, the few hours of each gruesome day he could be left in peace. "Soon, I'll get away from here," he whispered to himself. "I'll become a Marine, hunt these pirates to the end of the sea, and they'll never hurt another person again." But the more vigor his captors heard in his young voice, the harder they sneered, the harder they hit, the harder he cried, until he'd wept and bled every ounce of hope onto the dark cabin planks and left them there to rot with his childhood. 

5\. 6. Break Away // Poison // Pessimistic  
\---Their influence was a poison, slow-acting but sure as a cancer, and it seeped into his brain more with every day he didn't see a kind-eyed smile. _Maybe I should just give in,_ he thought in desperation. _They'd be nicer to me if I was one of them. Maybe... maybe, just..._

And as he was just a hair's-breadth away from breaking his own heart, he was saved by the most unlikely of heroes. 

He stared in awe at the young man who'd just burst very literally into his life from, of all things, a barrel. 

"Who are you?!" he asked the strange intruder, hardly believing. 

The young man adjusted his well-loved straw hat and may as well have answered 'your personal savior', but told him, "Monkey D. Luffy," as he stuffed apples into his mouth. "You?" 

"...Coby," the boy responded, the reality of the situation slowly sinking in. He paled as he remembered his captors (cap _tor_ ; that one grotesque face stood out against them all), and quickly bade Luffy to leave, but the young man just shook his head and declared that the man who would be pirate king could never cower before some fat pirate woman, no matter how solid her iron club or fearsome her visage. 

"The pirate king?" he whispered breathlessly. "You're crazy. Crazy... That's impossible!" His dreams had all bled away into a sticky puddle on the floor long ago, and now trapped him to the splintery wood so hard he couldn't begin to believe even in someone _else's_ aspirations. 

Luffy gave him a look that said, _You don't know anything,_ and maybe he didn't. He'd let go of all his parents had once taught him about living, these past few years as a pathetic slave. He'd lost it to the cold truths of the world that he didn't think to deny. And now he watched in muted terror, in frantic disbelief, ( _I'm dreaming, must be dreaming; let me die before I wake and find it gone_ ) as someone stood up, so clean of rotten dreams, so strong, and helped him break away. Luffy said, 'Don't let them rule your world' without so much as speaking through his crazy grin. 

6\. 7. Heaven // Pirate  
\---Somehow, it seemed God existed, someone who could save the hopeless, the dead. But he was just a gangly mortal teen who believed in dreams. Was that really all it took? "Don't wait for someone else to save you," he said. "You're strong too; you might just not know it yet." And then he held his hand out, the pirate to the boy whose life his kind had ruined, and Coby saw fit to take it. 

7\. 9. Drive // Cut // Stitch // Doom // Famous  
\---As Coby sailed with the young pirate king, he became more and more in awe of Luffy's drive. 

“So where is your ship?” Coby asked. 

“Don't have one,” Luffy replied. 

“So where is your crew?” Coby asked. 

“Don't have one,” Luffy replied. “Yet.” 

And despite having nothing but dreams, he dove forward in a way that Coby could only consider admirable. 

The young pirate's plan was to hopefully find what he needed in the next town. _Maybe I can find what I'm looking for too,_ Coby thought, although exactly what that was remained to be seen. 

They arrived at the nearest island within the day, but by that time, Coby already felt that he'd been friends with Luffy for years, the young man's carefree enthusiasm for life quickly washing away the corrosive influence of the past few years. As they stepped off the dock and into the bustling town, Coby was feeling almost optimistic about the future. Noticing signs of a naval base, he thought hopefully to ask about the local captain, imaging being taken in, taught the clean-cut ways of justice, but the citizens all cowered at his mere mention, as if he were worse than the frightening bounty hunter they whispered about behind their hands. 

The bounty hunter, as it turned out, was frightening but not threatening, tied to a post, the shadow of hunger and fatigue dark beneath his eyes. Though the man seemed scary to Coby, he could see that Luffy was impressed. He watched the man raptly, observing carefully as a little girl from the village snuck past them and into the tiger's cage to bravely deliver a snack to the hungry chained creature. He'd clearly become determined that this man would be the first stitch in his patchwork crew quilt by the time the self-righteous villain showed his face. 

“Assisting a criminal is a crime itself.” A sneering blonde man had sauntered onto the scene, entitlement smeared across his face as he ordered one of the soldiers at his back to dispose of the little intruder. “You, Roronoa Zoro, are my prisoner,” he spat at the restrained bounty hunter. “Don't think you can cheat your sentence!” 

Coby stared as the man retreated, confused and disheartened. Wasn't a marine supposed to be kind and fair? Wasn't he supposed to protect civilians, not exploit them? His heart sank. He frowned in Luffy's direction, but the strawhat teen was well past Coby's heartbreak, already over the fence and insisting that the criminal, Zoro, join him. 

But the man refused; he had something to prove, and would wait here until he had done so. The future pirate king decided Zoro's proud determination was the best answer, and that he would wait as well. 

However, righteous men played dirtier than criminals, as the brave little girl tearfully explained. Zoro wasn't the bad guy here; he was their savior from Helmeppo's tyranny. Big-brother bounty hunter was in jail for defending them from the captain's snotty son, little Rika said. And what's worse, Zoro's nobility would only spell his doom; Helmeppo planned to go back on his word and execute the man before his sentence was filled. 

“Then I guess I have no choice,” Zoro conceded when the news was brought to him. “Better to become a wanted man than to die before I can accomplish my goal. Get my swords back and I'll join you,” he told the young pirate. 

It wasn't as easy as a mere scavenger hunt, when Morgan's son was set to cause trouble, and the captain himself was so quick to anger. Coby watched as Luffy rocketed himself up to the high tower's roof, and winced when he heard the bellow of fury that followed. He was hesitant to step foot on the evil naval base, but realizing it may be a matter of life and death for Zoro, he decided not to wait for Luffy's return and hastened to untie the bounty hunter's bonds. 

He'd made close to no headway before the enraged captain was upon them. The man was a rock, tall and imposing. Coby felt like a helpless animal in the face of an oncoming train. As the captain's gunners took aim, his face drained to white, but he clenched his teeth and thought, _If I have to die, at least I'll die doing what's right._ His short and uninspiring life flashed before him as he heard the rifles' reports, and for a split second he prayed, _If this is the end, let some good come of my death!_

It was not the end. With the bullet spray just before him, he found Luffy taking the hit, saving him for what felt like the millionth time since they'd met. Coby gasped, overwhelmed by Luffy's selflessness, before he remembered the teen's strange power. _It probably doesn't make jumping in front of a bullet any less frightening though,_ he thought. If he wasn't busy still being in awe of the strawhat boy, he might have laughed at the look on the bounty hunter's face, and wonder how many times in his life Luffy had seen that look. The soldiers were giving him a similar look, though rightly more terrified on their parts as the strawhat tossed Zoro his swords, then cracked his knuckles before launching himself toward Morgan. 

Coby bit his lip, his eyes glued on the chaos Luffy and his new crewmate were wreaking, not sure if he was more worried for them, or for Captain Morgan. Truly, the man looked fearsome, but he was clearly no match for the two. He was down within moments, the strawhat pirate poised for the final blow. But before Luffy's fist could descend and smash the captain's face past recognition, a loud voice in Coby's left ear commanded him to stop. 

The boy froze when a cold steel gun barrel was shoved against his temple. Breathing slowly, he turned his eyes but not his head to see the captain's son, Helmeppo, at the other end. His hair was disheveled and he had a crazed, desperate look in his eyes. “Step away from him!” he yelled at Luffy. “Or I swear I will shoot this kid right through the head!” 

Coby had been on that end of a gun before; the pirates on Alvida's ship hadn't been known for their good tempers, but he certainly remembered them for their threats. While that didn't make him any less nervous about possibly being shot in the head, he found it helped him not to panic. And perhaps he was feeling confident, finally, having faced down death so many times in one day. Luffy had paused and was looking his way, maybe a bit concerned, so Coby made his final decision and yelled out before he could lose his nerve. 

“Luffy! I don't want to get in the way of your dream!” 

The pirate grinned and shook his head. “Of course you won't.” 

In that moment, Coby thought he could see the man that teen would become, and the reassurance that something would be right in the world gave him courage. That fact that Luffy's rubber fist came out of nowhere and punched Helmeppo in the face so fast he didn't even have time to _think_ about pulling the trigger helped a little bit too. 

And that was the end of that. Luffy pummeled captain Morgan a little more, for good measure, but when he looked around for his next challenger, the soldiers had all abandoned their weapons and tossed their caps in the air in celebration. It seemed Zoro wasn't the only one the pirate's interference had saved. 

They were treated to an extensive all-you-can-eat lunch by brave young Rika and her mother while the empowered marines cleaned up the trash left knocked out in the courtyard, but Coby knew it would only be a matter of time before the soldiers came for Luffy, as he had clearly announced himself a pirate. 

“Where will you be going now?” he asked as he finished his fourth plate and Luffy started his twelfth. 

The young pirate wiped a noodle from his chin nonchalantly. “I guess we'll be starting towards the Grand Line.”

Just the name shook Coby so badly he couldn't help but blurt out, “Impossible! The Grand Line is--” but one look from the young man had him trailing off into a chastised silence. Of course Luffy would be going to the Grand Line. It was the destination of every respectable pirate, and home to the infamous “One Piece”, Luffy's ultimate goal. Coby knew he couldn't be surprised that his friend would go there; after all he'd seen, he knew Luffy could make it, would make it, _had_ to make it. He nodded. 

Zoro didn't seem to mind the idea either, but was considerably less excited about the prospect of making the journey without any other crewmates or a decent ship. Even so, he just laughed it off, and Coby found himself admiring that the bounty hunter could take such a leap without so much as a shiver, considering his possible fate. Then again, he supposed that was what made the man such a good match for Luffy, something that was already obvious. He looked between the two and smiled almost ruefully; he was excited for them, wished them limitless luck for their dangerous trip, but regretted... just barely, that he would be staying behind. 

But Luffy had his dream, and Coby had his own. 

They were all laughing at some joke or another about Luffy and Zoro's odds of survival (the sort of joke that wouldn't be funny if the subject were anyone less demonically powerful) when, as Coby predicted, a group of stiff marines filed in. Their leader addressed Luffy sternly. “We want to thank you for freeing us from Morgan's tyranny. Please know you have our eternal gratitude.” He bowed and the other soldiers followed suit. “However, as we understand that you are a pirate we have to ask that you leave immediately. We will not report you if you comply swiftly.” 

It was as everyone expected. Pirates were not tolerated by the navy, but in this case it was the least and most they could do. Luffy didn't hesitate, knowing fully well that this was best for everyone. He thanked Rika and her mother for their hospitality and stood up to leave, followed by his new first mate. Coby stood frozen in the middle of the room. 

_What do I do now?_ he thought. This was how he expected things to go, yet he felt empty and speechless. Of course he couldn't go with Luffy... of course... But somehow, deciding to stay back was the hardest easy choice he'd ever made, even in a day filled to the brim with them. 

“Are you with them?” the Marine's leader asked as Coby stared blankly. He stammered at the man, but couldn't quite find the words to say resoundingly “no”, so the marine asked Luffy. The look in the young pirate's eyes then made Coby more nervous than he could remember ever being. 

“Oh, I know all about this guy,” Luffy said, stepping towards the boy. “There were these pirates, and this huge ugly lady--” 

Coby stared in disbelief as the young pirate started to spill his dirty secrets. _Luffy, no, what are you doing? Don't do that, why would you do that?!_

“--and he didn't even have the courage to-” 

He wasn't sure where it came from, but suddenly his useless fist was in Luffy's face, possibly the first time he'd ever hit someone. It didn't make him feel good, but it stopped the pirate from talking. Unfortunately, then, Luffy started to hit back. 

He tried to say “Luffy, why?” or “I'm sorry!”, but was having a hard enough time staying conscious. It wasn't until after the marines had pulled the maniacally grinning pirate away and ushered him out the door that Coby had the mental capacity to think, _He did that on purpose. He saved me, again. I am so useless..._

But Luffy's final act of kindness towards his young new friend was the last twisting turn in a road that finally led to Coby's acceptance into the Marines, and he was determined that he would climb to the top and show the pirate that he had been worth taking a chance on. 

8\. 10. Breathe Again // Garden // Emotion  
\---It didn't take long for the rhythm of life to go back to something he figured was pretty normal. It _felt_ calm, it wasn't draining, and that was what normal was supposed to feel like, right? It'd been a while since his version of normal could even begin to compare with anyone else's, so he wasn't sure, but suddenly he could breathe again, and that was enough. 

Thanks to the generosity of a good handful of people he'd never have enough chances to thank, Coby had been taken into the naval base, given a bed and a job, and sometimes a genuine smile. True, chore-boy wasn't much of a job, definitely wasn't glamorous; it wasn't even technically a marine position. But it was something, and he was determined to make the most of it. 

_After all, everyone has to start somewhere!_

He did his very best with every task he was given, even though most of them were tiring and gross, some even more so than his chores on the pirate ship; laundry, for example, was something Alvida's crew didn't do a whole lot of, and they didn't work out nearly as much in a week as a the marine battalion did on a daily basis. Most of his chores were menial tasks that he completed while staying out of the soldiers' ways, the sort of stuff they were just too busy to deal with. But one chore he was given soon after being taken in was not simply because the others were too busy, he soon realized, but because it put them on nerves. 

“Captain” Morgan's men were all avoiding him like the plague, but the unpleasant man needed to be kept alive until he could be handed over to the higher-ups, and that meant somebody needed to feed him. It was as simple as sliding a plate through the flap at the bottom of the thick iron door and removing it when he was finished, but the soldiers refused to even enter the prison quarter, now that they had a chore boy to foist the task off onto. Coby had seen the frightening man in action, so he wasn't exactly gleeful to attend to this task three times a day, but he swallowed down the lump of fear that had crept into his throat and walked forward as steadily as possible. He never talked to the man, and Morgan never tried to talk to him, and that suited them just fine. But Coby couldn't be quite as frigid with the prison's other temporary inhabitant. 

The captain's son likely wasn't in as much trouble as his father, but Helmeppo was still being held for assisting in crimes against the military and community. According to the soldiers, he'd been about half as ruthless as his father, but easily three times more annoying, and they seemed to think that was more than enough reason to send him to the brig. Coby wasn't as sure. Yes, the guy had threatened his life and committed several other transgressions in the very short amount of time since he'd met him. But the look in Morgan's eyes was always cold and cruel, where Helmeppo's was never more than scared... and lonely. It was a look Coby recognized from the prized polished mirror Alvida had hung in her room, the only look his reflection ever gave him during those hopeless days. 

The blonde young man was in a different sort of cell than his father. Morgan's cell was like a high-security cage, the door just as thick and cold as you please, with just the smallest of windows. Helmeppo was being held in a common barred jail cell down the hall, less secure, less imposing, and less private. He and Coby couldn't very well avoid each other when the boy came to deliver dinner, though the shamed son usually either averted his gaze or fixed him with an animalistic glare when he came by. Even so, the pink-haired boy was empathetic, and couldn't help but want to say something positive, even friendly, when he came around, despite a really lackluster response from the prisoner. Just about the nicest reply he got any time in the first week was a growled “leave me alone, _please_ ”. 

Honestly, Coby was becoming a little preoccupied with the man's frown. More than a few times, he tripped over soldiers in his path as he distractedly contemplated Helmeppo's sad situation and how, maybe, he could help. 

The perfect answer came to mind in a frantic instant, as Coby was cleaning up the courtyard one day. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but his hearing was just a little too good not to hear the stand-in Captain discussing the prisoners' fates with a few of the soldiers. 

“We'll be handing them over to Vice-Admiral Garp in a few weeks,” the old Captain's replacement told his men, “and he will escort them to Enies Lobby from there.” 

The soldiers nodded, but seemed unsure. “Enies Lobby... how scary. Nobody likes that stupid son much, but isn't that... a little extreme?” 

The captain folded his arms. “I agree, but there's not much else we can do with him. We can't afford to keep prisoners for very long.” 

Coby couldn't help himself, he was at their side in a second. “Sir, I have a suggestion, if I may!” They stared at him in disbelief, and he stared back in a similar fashion, floored by his own impetuousness. But the captain nodded mutely, so he did his best to find his voice and silence his pounding heart. “I...I thought of some-, something you could do-- a, a way to deal with H-Helmeppo, sir.” 

The soldiers glanced nervously at each other and the captain when Coby went quiet, but the captain just shrugged and said, “Well, go on.” 

Heaving a relieved sigh, Coby continued. “I was thinking... I thought, maybe, you could let him be a chore boy. ...Ahh, um, I'm not trying to get out of doing work or anything, I just--!” 

The captain waved a hand at Coby and began to chuckle. “I was never worried about that.” He quirked an eyebrow at the boy. “But what makes you think he's going to want what you want?” 

Coby responded without hesitation, “Why wouldn't he?” 

As it turned out, the younger prisoner wasn't as excited about the prospect as his would-be savior was. Coby had followed behind the captain and his two men as they went to deliver the ultimatum, and he stayed just on the other side of the door when they went to talk to him. But it was certainly close enough to hear Helmeppo's resounding, “I'd rather rot in a prison cell than serve under you scum.” So the captain and soldiers shrugged and left the room, leaving Coby slumped dejectedly outside with little more than a “told you so” from one and a “we tried” from the other. 

He sat there for a moment, wallowing in his defeat, but a little spark of determination shocked him to his feet. His mouth set in a no-nonsense line, he pushed through the heavy wooden door to the inner prison hold and marched up to Helmeppo's lonely cell. 

“What are you doing here?” the blonde man asked, his head turned away from Coby. “It's not dinner time yet.” 

“Why would you say you'd rather rot in a cell? You don't mean that!” 

Helmeppo spared the boy a glance over his crossed arms. “You don't know what I want.” 

Coby shook his head emphatically. “Nobody could really wish to be imprisoned. And I've heard of that place they plan on sending you, Enies Lobby. Alvi-- P-people always said it was like a death sentence!” 

“Enies Lobby? Well, anything's better than being some powerless military slave.” He fixed his gaze just to the side of Coby's ear, but wouldn't meet his eyes. “Better to be dead than at someone else's mercy.” 

“That's not true.” Coby stepped to the side, putting himself directly in Helmeppo's line of sight, and tried to catch his eye. “Death is never the best option. As long as you're alive, you can work your way up, and if you try hard enough, you can even achieve your dreams!” 

Helmeppo scoffed, then scrambled to a standing position. “Is that something you heard from that strawhat freak? Don't be naïve, kid! Dreams are the stuff of fairytales, and when you grow up a little you'll find out that fairytales _aren't real_.” 

Coby looked hard at the man on the other side of the bars. His short, bowl-cut hair was scraggly and all over the place. He was still wearing the dark violet suit Coby had first seen him in, but it was wrinkled badly and had a few tears and stains in it. A layer of dust and dungeon grease had settled on his long, flat face, but there were streaks of faintly cleaner skin showing through the grime. And there was a look in his eyes so beaten, but so innocent... It was painful to look at. 

He found himself wishing ardently that he was more like Luffy, because that was what he needed right now. He needed someone inspiring, someone who could convince Helmeppo that dreams were worth believing in! But all he had right now was himself, and that wasn't very impressive, apparently; the prisoner's challenging glare was evidence enough. 

Coby sighed and shook his head as he failed to come up with anything inspirational to say. “They gave me a chance to prove myself, so I thought they'd give you one too. But... if you don't want one, I guess they were right.” He turned his head and tried to hide his disappointment as he headed towards the door. “Well I guess you have a few weeks, if you change your mind. ...I'll be back with dinner later.” He pushed through the door, his eyes still trailing on the ground, and nearly ran into the stand-in captain. Frantically, he stood at attention. “Captain! I'm-, I'm sorry! I'll get back to my work immediately!” He wasn't in the mood to be rebuked, so he ducked his head and rushed past the man. 

The captain looked behind him at the quickly-retreating chore boy, then turned back and headed through the prison main door. Passing up Axe-Hand’s cage, he made straight for his son's cell and stood silently in front of it until Helmeppo deigned to acknowledge the man's presence. 

“Are you here to tell me I should become a marine slave too?”

The captain cleared his throat and unlocked the iron door. “No, I'm here to tell you that you are _going_ to become a chore boy, or I'm going to have you hung by your toes in the courtyard until you shrivel into a dusty corpse. Now go get to work. Report to Coby and he'll get you settled in.” The man stared at Helmeppo, and the prisoner gaped right back at him in full disbelief. “Go!” the captain snapped, and finally the man backed out of the cell, his wide eyes fixed on the captain. “And don't take that boy for granted!” the captain yelled as Helmeppo backed out of the room. “You don't often meet someone who's willing to stick up for a stranger, let alone someone who's been a complete asshole to them.” 

OoOoO  
Coby looked up from mopping when he heard someone clear his throat, and was pleasantly surprised when he found Helmeppo standing there and avoiding his eyes. 

“So you changed your mind?” Coby asked enthusiastically. 

The blonde man shrugged. “I'm standing here, aren't I?” He looked awkwardly at Coby for a few moments while the boy beamed at him. “Well, are you gonna show me what to do?” 

Coby shook himself out of his dreamy daze and grinned. “Yeah, of course. I was just mopping up here but, oh, let's get you some clean clothes first, and you'll probably want a shower after ten days in that cell, won't you?” He started to lead the way, but turned back after a few steps. “I'm glad you changed your mind.” 

Helmeppo gave him a forced sort of half-smile in response. _I still have my doubts,_ he thought as he followed the boy further into the marines' personal quarters. _But a shower and a change of clothes_ do _sound nice._

9\. 53. Keeping a Secret // desecrate // prince  
\---The new chore boy's first few days were pretty rough on him. It was clear that Helmeppo had never done his own chores, let alone someone else's. Not only was he unskilled in the arts of mopping, laundry, and dishes, he was lazy and would do his best to get out of working on them. The soldiers were rather rude whenever they noticed him slacking. 

“You're not a prince anymore, Helmeppo!” they might say. “Start pulling your weight before we toss you out to sea!” “Riches to rags,” some would taunt whenever he passed by. 

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” one spiteful marine muttered as the troop passed the chore boys. A few of his fellows snickered, but they stopped short when the captain called them to attention and expressed his very humble opinion that sinking to a bully's level was the peak of immaturity, and that anyone who felt the need to act immature would do well to be downgraded to chore boy themselves. 

The soldiers more or less stopped saying mean things after that, but that didn't stop them from being horrible in other ways. Sometimes it was as simple as tripping him with their practice swords, but they seemed to gain the most pleasure from just making Helmeppo do the most unpleasant tasks they could think of, the ones that hit home the hardest. 

Although it wasn't probably strictly necessary, a group of soldiers decided to interrupt the chore boys in the middle of mopping up the dining hall and ask them if they would kindly go dismantle Helmeppo's old room. “We need that room for storage space. So sorry, princeling.” 

The blonde had sort of gotten used to the name, but he blanched at the thought of his old room. What was he going to do with all his old stuff? He supposed... it wasn't exactly his anymore. Nothing was. Not even his own life. Everything he'd had the past few years was a gift from the government, a prize to please Captain Morgan, and now that Morgan was out of the picture, all Helmeppo's things, his fancy furniture and nice clothes, were being repossessed. 

“Storage space, my ass.” He frowned heartily at his room and the light layer of dust it had acquired since he'd last seen it those few weeks ago. Everything was just as he'd left it, except for the window Straw-hat had broken, which had been replaced. The long curtains were pulled back from the ornate window, the fluffy comforter and ornamental pillows still straight and smooth on the queen-sized bed, the numerous colorful suits still hung neatly in the wardrobe. Only the rug they walked over when they entered the room showed any proof of disturbance. “They've got plenty of space for storage,” Helmeppo complained, his brow furrowing. “Why couldn't they have just... left it alone?” 

Coby cocked his head and gave Helmeppo's back his best apologetically optimistic smile. “If you're not using it anymore, it's best for them to put it to some use, right? That is, it would be pointless for it just to sit around and gather dust.” 

He gave Coby a tense glare, but didn't respond, just stepping lightly further into the room and eying the space with as much detachment as he could manage. Turning away from the frilly, fluffy bed (so inviting, after weeks of plain cots and bedrolls), he took a short step toward the closet before he jerked back. He eyed the wardrobe as if it greatly offended him, then turned from it to stare out the window. “I don't need all this junk anyway.” 

Coby admired that Helmeppo had managed to say such a thing, even if he knew neither of them were convinced in the slightest. Material items were never anything Coby had had much attachment to, but he could see that they were important to his new friend, for whatever reason, and he wanted to respect Helmeppo's feelings, especially in light of his current situation. The marines had asked them to take the room apart and were clearly expecting all the items to be returned, but Coby thought that perhaps they could bend the rules a little, just this once. He made his way to the wardrobe and pulled the doors open. 

“Which one of these is your favorite?” he asked, over his shoulder. “I'm sure they won't mind if you keep just one of them.” He turned to see Helmeppo's confused expression, like the horrified look a king wears when his subject speaks out of line, overlaid with a painfully grateful half-smile. The offended royalty half of the look slowly melted into slight exasperation as Coby brandished one of the more flamboyant outfits and suggested brightly, “What about this one?” 

The two spent the next half-hour sorting through the blonde's extensive variety of clothing, laughing at memories they brought back (in Helmeppo's case), and trying very politely _not_ to laugh at a few of the styles (in Coby's). Eventually an outfit was decided on, so they set it aside and began to get to their appointed task of taking everything else down. Coby watched Helmeppo from the corner of his eye as they cleaned, and was relieved to find the man almost smiling. Not scowling, at least, and Coby considered that quite a success. 

They finished up in a timely manner and left the room to go back to their normal schedule, Helmeppo holding the bundle of clothing tight under one arm and giving his old bedroom hardly more than a goodbye glance before taking a deep breath and walking back to his new life with the slightest bit more confidence, and a peacefulness borne of closure.


	2. Themes 9-10

10\. 57. Sacrifice // sacrificial // fading // rock // father  
\---Comfortable wasn't the right word, definitely not. No, comfortable was fluffy cushions and servants at your beck and call, breakfast in bed and leisurely mornings. Waking up at dawn to spend all day cleaning up other peoples' messes, just to fall dog-tired onto a hard cot at the end of the day wasn't even in the same _era_ as comfortable. 

But Helmeppo was finding less and less to complain about, as time went on. Even if things sucked, he found it a _little_ hard to be _really_ pissy when that Coby was always grinning his face off about something. 

Really, how the kid managed to be so damn cheerful all the time eluded him. He ran around the naval base practically begging to do chores and favors for the marines, dragging Helmeppo along and making him look bad when he didn't offer to shine peoples' goddamn shoes. But his smile was infectious, like a bouncy pink disease, so that had to be the reason for the blonde man's softening of temper. 

Others were beginning to notice it as well, not the least of which was Coby himself. “You seem like you're in a much better mood today,” he'd say, grinning, if he noticed even the slightest positive change in temperament, as if he was looking for ways to give the man a compliment. Rika's mother Ririka had noticed as well, if her encouraging smile was any indication. Every time he and Coby stopped by (to see if Miss Ririka needed any help, the pink boy would say, though Helmeppo knew it was because he had a weakness for the woman's pot-pies), the gentle bartender would invite them warmly into her restaurant and feed them free of charge. Even if someone brought up his not-so-long-gone past, dredging up old memories of how much trouble he'd caused them, Ririka only asked how his day had been, how he was adjusting, and distinctly didn't believe him when he said “horrible”. 

The marines themselves were still a little wary of him (as if they had anything to fear, these days), but they'd mostly backed off from their tormenting. The reason wasn't immediately clear to Helmeppo, and he was feeling optimistic about his lot in life for a few days, until he realized _why_ the soldiers were all too preoccupied to bother him. As it turned out there was less than a week before the famous vice-Admiral Garp was to be handed over custody of ex-captain Axe-Hand Morgan. 

“Oh, sweetie, it'll be okay.” Ririka patted Helmeppo's shoulder as he sulked at the bar. He hadn't said a word on his feelings about his father's arrest, and it hadn't bothered him overly much thus far, but as the realization of the man's very probable fate sunk in, he became quickly more sullen. And somehow Coby, Ririka, and everyone else in the entire world seemed to know just what was on his mind. 

“Am I that transparent?” he grumbled. He reached around blindly for his frothy mug, too dejected to even pick his head up off his arms, but Coby sat down beside him and pushed it to the side distractedly.

“Drowning your tears in drink isn't going to help,” he said sagely. 

Helmeppo fixed the boy with a vicious frown. “I'm not crying,” he growled, his voice a little hoarse. 

Coby laughed softly and shook his head. “I didn't mean to say you were. I just meant, maybe... you'll feel better if you talk to him?” 

“To my father?” Coby may as well have suggested he talk to Gold Roger, for the look on Helmeppo's face. “I...! Even if I wanted to talk to him, they wouldn't let me! Half of the marines still think I'm planning some evil plot with him!” He buried his head back in his arms and huffed loudly. “I don't think so.” 

The pink-haired boy slid off his bar stool. “You never know until you ask. And you _do_ want to talk to him, don't you?” He laid a hand on Helmeppo's arm. “We still have an hour or so until we have to clean up for dinner. Why don't we go ask the captain?” 

“We?” the blonde asked, staring at Coby. “Aren't you being a little nosy?” But of course that didn't stop him from sighing and pulling himself off his bar-stool, doing his best to make a show of how terribly inconvenient he found the whole thing. He didn't admit that he maybe sort of grudgingly appreciated Coby's efforts to make him feel better, but he did follow the boy back up to the naval base and through the labyrinth to the captain's quarters. 

Helmeppo was surprised when the captain nodded and gave them clearance to speak to Morgan, though he wasn't sure it was a _pleasant_ surprise. Despite Coby's assertion that he should speak to his father ( _Say our last goodbyes, is that it?_ ), he wasn't certain he'd even make it through the encounter without bolting or fainting. But he didn't have much of a choice anymore. The captain was leading them up to the prison tower already, and Helmeppo's mind was racing, going crazy trying to figure out just what he was going to say to the man. Sure, they were family, they loved each other, but they hadn't communicated well since his mother had passed away some years ago. Morgan hadn't had anything to say at the time, and Helmeppo doubted he'd have much to say now. 

_And what do I say to him?_ he wondered. _Should I tell him I miss him? Apologize for being a rotten son? Beg him to change his ways?_

They were at the prison door, but he hadn't decided. The captain left them there, and the guards retreated down the hall. Coby set his hand on the door handle and gave Helmeppo an encouraging smile before opening it and nodding him in, mentioning that he'd be 'right out here', as if that was supposed to do the blonde any good. 

With the heavy door shut behind him, Helmeppo was feeling very alone, left to face his personal demons. _And that Coby's out there, grinning like an idiot,_ he thought. _Is anything ever not sunshine and rainbows to him?_ He grumbled to himself for a minute, but was startled out of his stalling by a familiar rough voice from the other side of the iron cell door. 

“What is it.” Coming from Morgan, it was less like a question, and more like a demand. Helmeppo scuttled up closer to the little window and peeked inside. It was too dark to see much, but he thought he could see a glint of light off his father's shining metallic jaw. 

“Dad, it's me, your son!” 

“What.” Morgan's gritty voice intoned from the darkness. 

“What? I... just wanted to talk to you.” 

Morgan was quiet for a moment, not realizing that Helmeppo apparently required a response. “Well, get on with it.” 

It was the son's turn at silence. Still he wasn't sure what to say, and his father had always hated when he wasn't direct with his speech. Floundering, useless fools, as he said, he could never abide. So he took a moment to think. “They're taking you away in a few days,” he eventually said. “This might be the last time we ever get to speak.” 

Again, Morgan was silent. Helmeppo had been relying on his father's ability to speak to carry at least some of the conversation, but it was clear the man had little to say. He stammered for a moment, hoping the perfect words would come to him but, instead, his true feelings came tumbling out, sounding woefully childish. “Isn't there anything you can do? Dad, aren't you a great marine? You can find a way out of this, can't you? I--” 

His stream of worried insecurities was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of a fist slamming into the bars inches from his face. “Leave,” Morgan said. “I'm tired of hearing your voice.” 

Helmeppo was silent, almost as if even his heart had stalled. For a moment, he almost spoke up, some soft question pleading for an answer, before fear and instinct tightened their grip on his lungs, forcing him to back out of the room just to find a breath of air that wasn't clogged by the smoke of confusion. He sank to his knees as he closed the door and leaned his forehead against the cool strips of metal that reinforced it. 

Coby, standing awkwardly behind where Helmeppo was knelt, uttered half a consonant, but stopped when he realized there was honestly nothing he could say. Instead, he sat down with his back to the wall, a few feet from his distraught friend, and was quiet. 

The blonde breathed heavily for a few minutes, his mind racing but going nowhere at all. After a while, he turned around and slid to the floor, his face nestled against the grain of the wood of the door. “He's just... stressed,” he said in a faint almost-whisper. 

“Yeah, of course.” Coby responded. “Yeah, anyone would be.” 

There wasn't much else to do or say, so they sat in silence for a few more minutes, both minds wandering blankly, before Coby followed Helmeppo's sluggish lead back out into the warmer, brighter courtyard where they could get back to pretending things were going to be just fine. 

OoOoOoOoOoO  
“I'm glad you're not going.” 

Helmeppo turned to look at Coby curiously, and found the boy with an uncommonly serious expression. “What are you on about?” he asked, as if he hadn't understood with perfect clarity to what the boy was referring. 

Sincere as Coby was, the boy answered him anyway, his eyebrows drawn down expressively. “I'm really glad you stayed here. With... us. I hate to think of anyone going to such a terrible place, especially when they didn't do anything really all that wrong.” 

The blonde ignored Coby's rather vague choice of words regarding his own 'innocence', but the comment still struck him, and suddenly he wondered in a needful way what the boy thought of his criminal father. “And what if they _did_?” 

“I'm sure your father was a good guy at heart.” He locked his eyes on Helmeppo's, hoping the man would understand. “People just make mistakes sometimes. But that doesn't mean they're bad.” 

Helmeppo nodded and went back to his mindless chore, and Coby sighed, not entirely sure his point had been taken to heart. 

There were mere hours before the Shell Island marines handed over their ex-captain to the higher ups and to his ultimate fate, and the whole naval base was on edge. But even with their own nerves, the soldiers couldn't seem to help but spare pitying glances and curious stares for Morgan's son whenever they passed. The whole thing was driving Helmeppo up the wall, but his clear agitation just prompted more intense reactions from the soldiers, who seemed to want someone else to focus on and figured the new chore boy was the perfect subject. Always better to think about someone else's discomfort, they must have thought. 

Eventually the new captain approached the two and mentioned that if they wanted to accompany the other marines, they could board the ship early and polish the cannon-balls in the relative private of the below-decks as they waited. As usual, Helmeppo didn't seem to be able to decide if he liked the idea or not, but Coby stepped forward and thanked the man for his thoughtfulness, then dragged his friend off toward the harbor, knowing the blonde would be grateful, whether he realized it or not. 

The next few hours passed, cool and quiet, as they watched the tumbling sea through the ship's portholes, holding breath as the marines boarded noisily overhead and the little vessel that appeared over the horizon drew closer. Too soon for Helmeppo's frazzled nerves, they were called up to the deck to stand at attention with the other soldiers as Morgan was brought aboard. The ex-captain didn't look at a single one of his soldiers nor, to Helmeppo's relief (but admittedly, also his disappointment), at his own son. He stared straight forward and met nobody's gaze until the other vessel met with their own and the daunting Vice-Admiral stepped aboard. Garp and the new captain greeted each other, and nobody breathed through the lengthy exchange of formalities and documents, though the marines were all too nervous to pay any attention to the details; their attention was fixed upon Morgan, and the man's frighteningly blank stare. Still, the entire crew was overwhelmed with surprise when the prisoner attacked, his movements like a bolt of lightning. In a moment of distraction, Garp didn't see the flash of Morgan's axe, slicing through the tension to cut the vice-admiral down, and before a single marine could react, the ex-captain had his son by the neck. 

“Helmeppo!” Coby shouted as the collective marines gasped, half raising their guns at the criminal, the others rushing to the vice-admiral's side. Nobody dared move but Morgan; the man inched backward toward the lifeboats hanging on the edge of the ship, the blade of his axe pressed just lightly enough into the soft skin of his son's neck not to break through. He maneuvered carefully over the edge and pulled Helmeppo roughly against him, the closest he'd held his son in years, and dug the blade in deeper. The young man squeaked in terror as a thin trickle of blood ran down his neck. He glanced around frantically, ( _'Help me god damn it, somebody!'_ ) before locking hard on Coby's paralyzed stare. 

Again, Coby felt that connection, that horrifying feeling that he was seeing his past self through another's eyes and, knowing instinctively how the story would end if he did nothing, he rushed forward in a mad, senseless dash. But Morgan had dropped the lifeboat, and it landed with a cannonball splash just as Coby reached the edge. The marine soldiers followed, lining up at the rail to train their guns on the criminal, as useless as they all knew the action to be. They could not take the shot. Morgan had used that knowledge; Helmeppo was at its mercy; Coby rued the fact. 

The criminal and his hostage were tens of yards away by the time Garp was back on his feet. “Well, don't just stand there,” he told the soldiers. “Ready the cannons. You're not just going to let a prisoner slip away, are you?” The marines rushed to fulfill their superior's order, but Coby's feet were frozen to the spot. 

“Sir!” he cried at Garp. “You can't do that! He has a hostage! If you shoot, you'll hit Helmeppo too!” 

Garp raised an eyebrow, as if wondering what this spunky pink thing was complaining at him about. “Are you trying to say that apprehending a dangerous criminal isn't worth the life of some no-name chore boy?” 

Coby scowled seriously at the man. “Yes, sir!” 

The vice-Admiral crossed his arms adamantly. “Well, sorry kid, but there's no other choice. Take aim!” he shouted. 

Whereas the boy's feet had been stuck the moment before, now he couldn't have stopped himself from moving for all the world. He found himself in front of a cannon, arms spread wide, his face contorted into a terrible grimace. “Sir, I can't let you do that!” 

Garp frowned heartily at him, and Coby would have been floored by his own impertinence but, well, he'd sort of gotten used to it by now. “For justice to be served, some sacrifices have to be made,” the man told the boy calmly. “Now move.” 

Coby shook his head, his face nearly as pink as his hair. “Helmeppo is not a sacrifice! He's a human, and he's my friend!” 

The boy and the marines were caught at a standstill for a few moments, and all the while Morgan's tiny boat was fading farther into the distance. Coby glanced over his shoulder in a panic. “Let me do it!” Coby said to Garp. “Please sir, I'll go get him!” 

“Hmm.” Garp quirked an eyebrow in a thoughtful manner, but Coby was already over the rail, splashing noisily toward the little boat. “Alright, hold your fire,” he told the soldiers as he leaned casually on the railing and watched the boy swim like his life (and not somebody else's) depended on it. 

OoOoOoOoOoO  
Tears were streaming down his face, but he just couldn't help it. It wasn't because he was scared stiff, or due to the undeniable betrayal he suffered at his father's hand, surely not. But Morgan's axe had cut a little deeper than he'd first realized in his original shock, and that was plenty enough reason even for a grown man to cry. Who _wouldn't_ cry a little with their neck half-severed? Predictably, it hurt. Watching Coby climb in front of one of the cannons aiming at the little boat, his neck hurt even more. Clearly, the escalating pain was the only reason for Helmeppo's cascade of tears. 

He was caught between the desperate need to look on, and the desperate need _not_ to, knowing it might be the last he saw of what was honestly turning out to be a pretty pleasant life-style. Wrenching his eyes from the giant marine ship, he turned nervously back towards Morgan. The man's face was worryingly blank as he expertly maneuvered his paddle back and forth. “What are you doing,” he growled at Helmeppo when he noticed his son had stopped rowing. “Keep paddling if you want to live.” 

Cringing, Helmeppo began to row once more, but slowed to a stop again after just a moment. He stared at his father, the man he ought to know better than anyone... but there was nothing familiar about him, nothing comforting. “...I want to live,” he said, garnering a confused scowl from Morgan. “But not like this. I don't want to be a coward.” He stood up, and the boat wobbled dangerously. “I may not be able to beat you now, but I'm going to become a great marine and track you down!” 

Behind him, there was a splash, and Helmeppo heard the marines' voices raise in a collective surprised wave. He glanced around in the water and saw the pink-haired boy paddling hurriedly toward them. _What the hell is he doing?!_ he thought, aghast. “Coby!” 

“I thought you'd be smarter than those shit-for-brains marines,” Morgan rumbled, rocking the boat as he took a stand. “Shame that my own son doesn't know what it takes.” 

Helmeppo clenched his fist, turning to face his father full on. “I know what it takes,” he said. “But it's definitely not being a self-centered jerk like you!” He launched himself and caught Morgan around the middle, dragging him down and punching him square in the cheek, the chest, anywhere he could reach with his pent-up frustration. He'd forgotten all about Coby until he saw the sopping pink head pop up right behind Morgan as the man was rearing his axe-arm for a skull-splitting attack. The chore boys locked eyes for a mere second. The ex-captain's axe was just about to descend into Helmeppo's face when Coby reached over the side of the boat, grabbed a handful of the huge man's clothing, and yanked with all his strength. Helmeppo took the cue and lunged forward, the combined weight of Morgan's two assailants ruining his already-tenuous grasp on balance and knocking him off the edge of the boat, causing a great splash. 

Morgan floundered for a moment, the weight of his solid steel axe arm acting like an anchor to pull him into the depths. In the struggle, Coby managed to get out from under the man and grab Helmeppo's outstretched arm to climb into the boat, but he only made it halfway up before he was grabbed by the flailing ex-captain and used as a ladder to reach the relative safety of the tiny lifeboat. Helmeppo gasped as Morgan swung wildly at him, diving to the side just in time to see the man kick Coby harshly in the face. The boy lost his hold and toppled back into the water. Next, Morgan turned once more to his son, any hint of parental love gone from his face, and swung at him in a sideways slice that Helmeppo only barely managed to avoid. He tumbled to the other side of the boat and looked briefly over the edge for Coby before moving to dodge another swing. Again, he searched quickly for Coby before it occurred to him that he hadn't heard him surface. 

He turned back to Morgan for a moment, and time seemed to freeze. The ex-captain was wild with desperation, like an animal, like a mad-man, and it was clear to Helmeppo that his father wanted him dead. Still, he couldn't help but grieve the love he knew once existed between them, even though he knew it was well-past over. As he stared for the last time at his father's face, one that meant so much to him, a face he'd never forget, but probably never forgive, Helmeppo decided that he'd rather focus on the future instead. And the next step toward that future he took as Morgan's axe descended once again, taking a deep breath and diving off the side of the boat. He heard the crack behind him, Morgan's axe splitting the wood where Helmeppo had been standing, but he was gone by that point; he'd left that man behind and was rushing forward, like his life depended on it. 

Looking around frantically in the shadow of the small boat, he soon found Coby floating listlessly a few feet under. Before he could let fear get the best of him, Helmeppo hurried over, grabbed the boy around the waist, and hauled him to the surface as far from Morgan's escape boat as he could manage. 

“Coby!” he gasped as soon as air was back in his lungs. He shook the kid roughly and listened close for a breath, but didn't find one. _Shit, no!_ he thought, holding Coby tighter. He rearranged his grasp on the boy and swam as fast as he could in the direction of the marine warship, hoping against hope that he'd get Coby onboard fast enough for someone to do something. Luckily, the pink-haired boy regained consciousness halfway there, reviving with a violent fit of coughing. “Coby!” Helmeppo exclaimed, relieved. “You're alright! Thank god, I thought you drowned! Oh geez, your nose though...” He cringed at the bloody mess in the middle of Coby's face. 

For his part, Coby managed a faint sort of grin, but didn't respond otherwise. Instead, he glanced weakly over his shoulder to see the distance between them and Morgan and took a deep breath before starting the tiring voyage back to the marine ship. 

To Coby, it seemed like forever before they reached the edge of the massive ship, but it was really only a few minutes before the two of them were climbing up the rope-ladder to half cheers and half shocked silence from the soldiers. Rather, it was only minutes before Helmeppo was climbing up and supporting a struggling Coby, whose consciousness seemed to be fading in and out. 

They finally reached the deck and collapsed into ragged, water-logged lumps, ready to fade into unconsciousness for a good long time, but it seemed rest was not their fate. The soldiers cleared a half-circle around them, giving the captain and vice-Admiral room to observe the two. 

“Well, are you two happy?” Garp asked loudly, aggravating Coby's sea-soaked headache. Helmeppo grimaced, fearing Garp's wrath (they called him “The Fist”, and he was sure it was for a reason) but when he looked up, he found the man was grinning in an almost infuriatingly-pleased manner. Helmeppo's mouth fell open and the vice-Admiral burst into warm laughter. “The bad guy got away; what do you two plan on doing about it?” 

Helmeppo was greatly confused by the extremely mixed messages Garp was sending, but Coby was taking the situation completely seriously. “Sir! I take full responsibility!” he yelled, his head touching the planks and making a puddle-halo around it. He'd dragged himself into a kneeling position and bowed before his superiors, the very picture of the perfect subordinate. The blonde looked back and forth between the boy and the vice-Admiral, and quickly adopted a similar position. 

“Sir, I share that responsibility!” He smacked his head a little too hard against the deck, but stayed as still as possible, as if Garp were a crazed animal he was trying to appease. His heart was beating a mile a minute and he was hardly breathing as he waited for the vice-Admiral's ultimate judgment. 

Garp 'hmm'ed for a while, hand on his chin, looking back and forth between the two soggy chore-boys. “I guess there's no other option,” he eventually said. “You two will have to come with me--” Both Coby and Helmeppo looked up in shocked dismay; were they seriously being arrested right after a near-death experience?! But Garp wasn't done. “--to marine headquarters,” he said, after letting the two stress themselves out sufficiently. “I'd say the place could use some fresh young blood like the two of you!” 

In that moment, Helmeppo was pretty sure his heart stopped beating altogether. But it skipped back to work when he heard the 'thunk' on the deck beside him. “Dammit!” He reached for the boy and turned him over. Coby was out cold, but still breathing, though he looked (if possible) worse than when he'd almost just drowned. “Someone! He needs a doctor or something!” 

Stepping back to let the doctor through, Garp quirked an eyebrow at the two youngsters, the blonde one fussing over the little pink one over the doctor's shoulder. “I see what you meant,” he said, as the Shell Island captain came up beside him. “Are you sure you don't mind letting go of them?” 

The captain grinned and crossed his arms in front of him. “I can probably manage without them,” he said, regarding Helmeppo from the distance and smiling fondly at the memories of the two boys growing together under his watch the past few months. “I'm sure it'll be just fine. They have a lot of potential.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started this 100-themes challenge over a year ago and haven't nearly finished it yet, but I still work on it periodically and would like to finish it at some point. To be honest, it probably won't span the whole hundred themes, given how long I've started to make them, but I guess we'll see. =] Thanks for reading so far!

**Author's Note:**

> 2017 July 18th -- After several years of not finishing this story, I'm deciding to mark it as complete, because although I would like to continue it sometime, it reads well enough as finished currently. If I write more (past the half-chapter I've had sitting around for a while), I'll post it as a sequel instead. I still love these two nerds so there's a good chance of that happening eventually.


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